London-based Space DOTS, which is creating modular devices to test materials in orbit, has landed $1.5m (£1.2m) in pre-seed funding.
Capital from the round will go towards commercialising the startup’s first product, the Barnacle DOT, a material testing module that works in orbit.
Space companies can place Barnacle DOTs on various types of launchers to conduct anti-gravity testing.
“You wouldn’t test a rain jacket in the sun,” said Bianca Cefalo, CEO and co-founder of Space DOTS. “Space companies continue to waste valuable time and resources with materials untested in the environment they’re expected to operate in.”
Space DOTS, which UKTN highlighted earlier this year as a pre-seed startup to watch, was founded by Cefalo and James Sheppard Alden in 2021.
The pair came up with the concept after working at Airbus Defence and Space, where they became aware of the large costs and failures associated with space missions.
“At Space DOTS, we are proposing an evolution to the legacy approach of testing and qualifying materials for space,” added Cefalo.
Investors on board the pre-seed round are Boost VC, Sie Ventures, 7Percent Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, Elaine Lau and Alex Ionescu.
“We are continually monitoring the progress made in different materials, including microwires, nanomaterials, advanced metal alloys, and composites,” said Dr Aphrodite Tomou, head of technical at Goodfellow Cambridge, a specialist materials supplier working with Space DOTS. “It is crucial for us to be able to conduct tests on these innovative materials in space, and Space DOTS provides us with an opportunity to achieve this through its in-orbit active testing solution.”
Cefalo previously appeared on UKTN’s Founder in Five series, where she shared funding advice and tips for preventing burnout.